Misery Business
by ForgottenForeverByHeart
Summary: After meeting a certain bronze haired stranger Bella takes Tanya's advice and stays away from him. But once Bella finds out Tanya's no longer trustworthy can she stay away from him much longer? All Human
1. Speechless

**A/N: Ok so this story has been nagging at my head to be written ever since yesterday when I thought of it.**

Song for this chapter: Saving My Face - KT Tunstall

**Enjoy!**

"Hey! Watch out!"

I turned to see where the voice was coming from but, faster than my eyes could process, a football smacked me in the face, knocking me onto the soft sand beneath me.

"Are you alright? I am so sorry!" One moment I was simply looking at the cloudless blue French sky, the next two emerald eyes filled my vision.

"Ummm…."I was struggling slightly with coherency while staring into his eyes, and shook my head. "Yeah I'm fine thanks".

He smiled at me, completely derailing any hope of saying something remotely interesting to him, and then offered me a hand to help me up. I took it and stood up, despite the fact that my legs felt like jelly.

Once I had looked away and gathered my thoughts I looked at him properly. His hair was defying the laws of gravity in a way that still somehow looked casual and the rest of his body was well muscled in a way that you knew he would be able to catch you if you fell but didn't look like a serious weightlifter.

After my examination I realised that I had been staring at him for over a minute and blushed a deep red. I looked into his eyes again and he, seeing the colour of my cheeks, smiled crookedly again.

"I'm Edward" He looked at me expectantly, but I was beyond noticing, still comitting his smile to memory, and he continued. "And you are….?"

"Oh umm.." I blushed deeper. "I'm Bella".

"It was nice to meet you Bella, I hope we meet again" He sprinted back across the beach to his friends, pausing halfway across to turn and smile at me yet again.

I still hadn't learned how to regain control of the muscles throughout my body and just stood there, frozen. Until my best friend came running over.

"Come _on _Bella, the coach is leaving soon." Tanya tugged on my arm, pulling me back across the beach.

"Right. Coach. Yeah…" I took one last look at Edward and let her lead me back towards the road where both coaches were packing up ready to go to the D-Day museum.

"Tanya…?" I started.

"Yes?" She prompted when I didn't continue.

"Do you know a guy…"

"I know lots of guys Bella, which one in particular were you thinking of?" She was obviously overjoyed, having tried to set me up with someone ever since we came on this stupid trip Tanya was desperate for me to find a guy I liked.

"His name's Edward" I said, trying to sound indifferent but my voice came out with an almost desperate edge.

"Edward?" She asked, incredulous. "As in Edward Cullen?"

"I don't know what his last name is, but he has bronze coloured hair, Green eyes…What?" I asked, catching sight of my expression.

"Bella, he's the biggest player like…Ever! He seriously has a new girl on his arm every day" My heart sunk at her words. "Don't _ever _go after that jerk, he would just use you until the next girl came along."

"Oh…." I murmered.

By this time we had reached the buses and I was just about to step onto the bus when I tripped on the curb. I was waiting for the inevitable impact when suddenly two strong arms wrapped around my torso, keeping me upright.

"Are you alright?" A voice asked from behind me. _Oh no! _I thought _Please Please Please let it be some other person who has an amazing voice. _

I turned around in their arms, and my worst suspicions were confirmed. It was him. I stood abruptly, eager to escape his grasp, and straightened myself up. Aware that everyone was looking at me.

"Thankyou" I said curtly, and abruptly turned on my heel and walked towards the que for my bus.

I didn't realise that he had followed me until I came to a standstill behind Angela and turned to catch one last glimpse at the ocean.

"Why are you following me?" I asked, trying to sound as cold as possible, it would be harder to fancy someone if they hated you.

He looked slightly taken aback from my tone but answered anyway. "I wasn't" He said this as if it was perfectly obvious. "I was simply doing the same as you, getting onto my bus"

I turned away, scrambling inside my head trying to remember seeing him before, if not on this trip, surely I had caught a glimpse of him at school? But, despite my best efforts, I came up with nothing.

I climbed onto the bus taking the window seat next to Angela and plugging in my ipod, I closed my eyes trying to listen to the lyrics and nothing else. But somehow _his _voice seemed to filter through my ear phones and the babble that surrounded me on the bus. The low tone of his voice stood out as if he was right beside me.

I managed to avoid him for the rest of the day and, with Tanya's constant reminders of what a playewr he was, I had no intention of ever speaking to him again. However whenever I caught a glimpse of him a different frame of mind set in, not caring about Tanya's warnings, I just simply wanted to get to know him.

Another point that didn't help was that, quite often, I caught him staring at me, a look of frustration in his eyes. Could he possibly be as troubled as me about the space that I had forced between us? I rejected that thought immediately, before I could fall into the trap of speaking to him again. I would only get hurt.

But despite this, I felt a pull towards him, almost as if I was _meant_ to be. How cliché.

**Reviews release endorphins, endorphins make me happy..**

**Happy Author Faster Chapters **

Hannah


	2. Taking Over Me

**A/N: Wow, thank you so much for the massive response I got to the last chapter, I hope this meets your expectations!**

**So I thought I would give a bit of a background to Edward in this chapter, and in the next that football to the head becomes a little more important...**

Song For This Chapter: Taking Over Me - Evanescence

**I hope this isn't too fluffy.. It's a filler really.**

EPOV

I had never thought that my body was able of being shy, until now that is. Girls had never seemed like people, they threw themselves at me, and I obliged by giving them what they wanted. Few stayed with me for more than a few weeks, but that didn't bother me, I never had really wanted them to.

But when I saw Bella's face, every single view about women had been altered, at least when it had applied to her anyway. I had caught sight of her yesterday, talking to Tanya. This was something that made absolutely no sense to me. You could tell just by looking at Bella that she wouldn't throw herself at boys as Tanya did, her face was soft, giving the impression that she was thoughtful and kind, yet you could also tell that she would stand up for her views if ever they were questioned.

In that second I first saw her face, the world froze. Everything turned on it's head. I no longer wanted _any _woman, I wanted her, forever. Feelings I never knew existed coursed through my veins, altering every cell in my body, irreversibly.

I knew that by the end of this trip I must _at least _be friends with Bella Swan. Some unexplainable bond had formed between us in that second, and I knew I had to get close to her.

Love at first sight truly did exist.

I spent the next day planning how to tell my best friend Emmett that I had fallen for his little sister, I had only just met him on this trip but we had quickly become friends. Despite his scary exterior he was one of the softest guys I knew, until it came to his sister. Emmett was extermely protective over his sister and, although I was his best friend, I wasn't sure if he would approve. So for advice I told my twin sister first, Alice.

"Alice, can I speak to you please?" She was daydreaming, most likely about shopping.

"Sure Edward, what's up?" She said, snapping out of it.

"I need your help…About a girl" I said, feeling extermely uncomfortable.

She just stared at me, mouth hanging open.

"What?"

"Did _you _Edward Cullen, just ask _me _Alice Cullen, for help about _girls?_" She asked, incredulous.

"Yes" I replied, confused. "Stop looking at me like that!" She was making me uncomfortable.

"Edward you have a different girl on your arm every flipping week! Why on earth would you be having 'girl trouble'?" She said this, complete with quotation marks, in a sarcastic voice which she knew I hated.

"This girl is…different. I don't know how to describe it. It's just that…No that sounds _way _too cheesey to say." The only way I could put it into words was by saying 'I had never felt this way about anyone before' and I knew _exactly _what my sisters reaction to that would be.

"Edward. Just spit it out, you know I will get it out of you sometime anyway." I couldn't argue with that.

"Well…I've seen this girl, and it's almost like…I've never." She began to glare at me and I sighed. It was probably best to get it over with. "I've never felt this way about anyone before…That's what it feels like anyway." I looked away from her, towards the setting sun. Everyone else was giggling, flirting, talking and playing across the beach, completely unaware that Edward Cullen had just told his sister the one thing nobody had ever thought possible. That he might want to stay with a girl for more than one week.

I suddenly realised that Alice had not replied and turned to look at her. She was still staring at me, but her eyes had softened from last time, and she looked almost like she…approved of what I had said. It was the first time I had seen her look at me like that for years and it filled me with a warm sense that seemed to come from my very core.

"So, will you help me?" I had already guessed her answer, but I needed to clarify.

"Yes! Of course I will! Ok so then…Wait!" She said suddenly, making me jump. "You haven't told me who it is!"

"Oh yeah." I blushed. "Um…It's sort of…Emmett's little sister" I whispered the last words, emabarassed.

"Isabella Sawn?!" She half shrieked, causing a few people in the near vicinity to turn, looks of curiosity on their faces.

"Shhhh!" I whispered both furious and mortified at the same time.

"Oh, right, sorry" She said, not looking sorry in the slightest. "What are you going to do about Emmett?"

"That's what I came to ask you about…What would you recommend?"

"I think I need to sleep on it. We can talk about it again tomorrow"

"Okay then…" I was still slightly unsure if Alice could keep this a secret. "Don't tell anyone about this yet though, okay?"

"Alright" She agreed unwillingly, pouting.

We made our way back up the beach together, heading back to the center. I saw Bella talking to one of her friends named Angela, I watched her mouth, her eyes. I couldn't find a flaw.

But tomorrow would be a different matter, telling Emmett would bring a big set of problems.

**Review, Review, Review!!**


	3. Wow

**A/N: Ok I know.....Major apology required?**

**Since school started again I have just been soooo busy, but I promise I have been thinking about what I can do with this plot every single day. And I had writers block...But not in the form I normally do. In other words this story is based loosely on what happened on _my _school trip to France. However my story didn't have such a happy ending.....Yet anyway, times are changing now.**

**Enough of my rambling! I'm back with a longer chapter and I should be working on the next tomorrow, thanks to half-term!**

Song : The Cross-Within Temptation **(I warn you, I shall use them a lot)**

"Go _on _Edward!" Alice hissed, pushing me towards Emmett. "It's not like he's going to eat you or anything!", another push.

I walked slowly forwards towards Emmett, the knot in my stomach tightening with every step, it sounded so ridiculous, being so nervous about telling my best friend that I liked his younger sister. But I had seen Emmett in action after he had seen one guy staring at her butt….

"Um, Emmett can I talk to you for a second please?" I said, in a timid voice that didn't even sound like mine.

"Yeah, sure" he replied turning round.

"I've found a girl that I…Like"

"You find a new girl that you like every week Edward! You've had three since Monday and it's only Friday!", he said, chuckling.

"I know, but this one seems…Special" he obviously picked up on the nervous tenor of my voice.

"Who is it? You must be mental about this girl."

"It's well…It's Bella"

I stared at a spot on the floor, not having the courage to look at his face. There was a long silence which, for me certainly, seemed to get more tense as it went on.

Eventually I gathered the courage to look up, hoping he wouldn't hit me _too _hard. His expression was extremely thoughtful, I knew that despite his hard exterior he generally cared about peoples feelings, I just hoped that meant enough that he wouldn't hate me for this, he must know that I had never felt this way about another girl just by the way I spoke of her. I heard him take a deep, calming breath and then he said the last thing I could have ever expected.

"Well, what are you waiting for then? Why haven't you asked her out yet?"

I gaped at him.

"What?" He looked at me for a moment, and then burst out laughing.

"Why are you laughing at me?" I asked incredulously. I was slightly afraid of his bizarre hysteria.

"You- were- nervous- about- telling- me- that- you- fancied- _Bella_" He managed to choke out, slightly breathless.

"Well….Yeah" I admitted.

"Why?" He asked, still chuckling.

"Because I have both heard about, and witnessed, how protective you are about Bella. And I would rather not be on the receiving end of that anger."

His expression suddenly darkened, and I shrank away from him.

"Look Edward", his tone was darker now, a threat. "I know you personally and know that you change girls as often as I change my underwear. But I also know that you are a decent guy, however if you use Bella in that sort of way and hurt her, then you shall live to regret it."

"I promise I would never-" I began, but he cut me off, shaking his head.

"I can tell from the way you talk about her that you won't use her, you obviously genuinely like her, more than anyone else before. So I'm not going to beat you up….Yet" He added, laughing.

I relaxed instantaneously, the weight immediately lifting from my shoulders.

~*~*~*~*~*~

I still hadn't spoken to Bella, despite the fact she was in every single thought for the rest of that morning, I hadn't summoned the courage. My sudden, intense feelings for her had dizzied me. To anyone outside of my brain, it may have sounded unbelievable, to fall for someone so completely, in such a small amount of time would just sound purely unrealistic.

But it was true.

The coach stopped at our next destination, the beach. I had signed up for this school trip as I thought it would simply be a laugh with my best friend, Jasper Hale. We both just wanted a week off school and to have a little fun, I had been mildly enjoying it. But now the end seemed to race towards me, just when I had began to wish it would never come.

We all rushed off the bus and invaded the beach. Me, Emmett and Jasper grabbed a ball, just to have a bit of a kick around. I saw Bella take her iPod out from her pocket and plug it in, mouthing the words. Emmett hit me on the head with the ball.

"Stop gawping, Edward, or the bugs might start to fly in". He said, while Jasper just laughed.

At that moment a plan formed in my head.

"Hey, Emmett, can I just borrow that ball a moment."

"Yeah…". He said handing it over slowly. "Why?"

"I want to talk to your sister" I said, as if it was plainly obvious to anyone.

I threw the ball over in her direction, only realising when it was halfway there that it was on a collision course with her head.

"Hey! Watch out!" I called, but it was already too late.

She looked up, startled, before the football hit her square on the forehead. She fell backwards onto the sand, her bewildered expression still frozen on her face. I was instantly overwhelmed with guilt and ran over to see if she was okay.

"Are you alright? I am so sorry!" I said, still feeling guilty.

"Ummm….". She said, her eyes widening when they met mine. "Yeah, I'm fine thanks"

I smiled, relieved. I offered my hand to her and helped her to stand up, I worried slightly when she wobbled but she soon regained her balance.

"I'm Edward" I said, glad I had finally been able to make to introduction I had been craving, I already knew her name but I didn't want to appear like a stalker so I looked at her expectantly. However when she carried on staring and didn't reply I decided that it might be a good idea to drop a hint. "And you are…?"

"Oh umm…" She said, blushing in such a cute way I had a hard time not to simply kiss her. "I'm Bella"

"It was nice to meet you Bella". So, so much more than she could ever imagine. "I hope we meet again".

I sprinted back to Emmett and Jasper, pausing halfway across to smile back at her.

"Woah, Edward, you sure know how to introduce yourself". Jasper laughed.

"Yeah, with a bang" Emmett said, joining in.

"I didn't _mean _to hit her on the head. It just sort of…_Happened_". I said, my mind still reeling from the fact that I had actually spoken to Bella.

"Come on, the bus will be leaving without us soon" Jasper said, interrupting my daydreams.

We made our way up the beach and I spotted Bella talking to Tanya. I couldn't say I liked Tanya, she was well known for playing with peoples emotions, both male and female alike. I quickened my pace, hoping to speak to her again before we got onto the coach.

I was right behind her when suddenly she tripped on the curb and began to fall towards the floor. Without fully thinking it through, I wrapped my arms around her torso, holding her upright.

"Are you alright?" I asked, worried.

She turned, her eyes narrowing when she recognised me, and stood abruptly. My arms felt empty without her there.

"Thankyou" She said curtly, turned on her heel and dissapeared into the crowd of teenagers heading for coach B.

I follwoed her into the crowd, coming to a standstill behind her and Angela Weber. She turned, catching a last glimpse of the ocean, and saw me.

"Why are you following me?"She asked, her voice ice cold. I was disorientated by her violent mood swings and didn't answer right away.

"I wasn't" I answered, why would I have followed her? "I was simply doing the same as you, getting onto my bus".

She tuned away, obviously having nothing left to say.

I explained her bizarre mood swings to Emmett and Jasper on the bus, desperately seeking an answer.

"Maybe she's on her period…", was Emmett's genius response.

Bella avoided me for the rest of the day, if I ever even walked over to the group of people she was with, she walked away.

I had to find out what had happened.

**Another A/N: I don't know if it was that clear in the last chapter but it was set before the first, and I'm guessing you saw the link towards the end =]**

**IMPORTANT : Ok so I am asking you as readers. Do you want me to include something that is pretty unrealistic but will make a good story. OR would you rather it is just centered on Edward and Bella in more realistic teenage circumstances?**

**Review and TELL ME =]**

**Hannah**


	4. Damn Doors

**A/N : Okay then, I'm not dead! However I am INCREDIBLY sorry about how long the wait has been, I know I hate authors who do that and so I hate to have become one myself but it has been my birthday recently and then I went to a Coldplay concert in Birmingham the day after (They were awesome BTW =] ) and so I am still catching up from sleep even though it's a week later.**

**So, onto the story!**

**Song for this chap. : Death and all His Friends - Coldplay (One of the best songs in existence, no jokes) =]**

I simply couldn't wait for this day to end.

I had already convinced myself that I wouldn't get involved with Edward Cullen; it simply wasn't worth the heartache. Although my one small meeting with him may have contradicted what Tanya said, I would take her advice anyway.

Once arriving back at the centre I stepped off the bus and bolted straights for my room which I shared with Angela, Tanya and Jessica, desperately hoping I wouldn't bump into Edward. I knew if I stared into his eyes again my resolve would waver, badly.

I hurried down the corridor, fighting my way through the students who strolled along at an agonisingly slow pace. Finally I made it to my door, it might as well have had a sign on it saying _Safe Refuge_, because that's what it was, at least how I saw it now anyway. I shoved the key into the lock and yanked the door open almost faster than my brain could register.

Once inside, with the door safely shut behind me, I ran upstairs and grabbed my book, needing to escape from the unhealthy thoughts beginning to poison the edges of my mind.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Bella! Wake up!" A voice shouted in my ear. I jumped up, startled.

"What?" I hadn't even realised that I had fallen asleep.

"It's time for dinner, I didn't want to wake you earlier". As my eyes focused further I saw Angela sitting on my bed beside me with an apologetic expression on her face.

"Oh, don't worry. I didn't even mean to fall asleep" I hurried to get up, quickly fixing my hair in the mirror before racing down the stairs to a very impatient looking Tanya and Jessica.

We hurried down the corridor to join the rapidly growing queue of students, waiting for their dinner. I saw a flash of bronze hair, and then heard his voice.

"I just don't understand it Jasper! Why would she be so friendly one moment and then completely shun me the next?" He sounded so frustrated and, as my brain processed his words, I flushed beetroot red. He was talking about me, realising that I had upset him sent an uncomfortable guilty feeling shooting through my stomach.

"I know, I know" I heard Jasper Hale respond, although I didn't know Jasper well he was in my Italian class and we had spoke a couple of times before. "Girls are just so damn _complicated_" He said, ending with a sigh.

"I've already told you Jasper, Alice _is also interested in you!_" Edward replied, I could almost see his eyes rolling.

"Shhhh will you! First, you don't actually know that" Edward must have appeared as if he was about to speak as Jasper continued. "You have not heard it from her very own lips….Those sweet wonderful lips…" Jasper trailed off.

"Come _on _Jasper, this _is _still my sister that we are talking about here and I would rather not get into this kind of a conversation with you!"

I had to stuff my hand into my mouth before I started giggling out loud, I guess it shouldn't have been funny as I had made a promise not to go anywhere near Edward but I still couldn't help myself.

"Bella? Bella! Are you alright?" Suddenly my eyes focused on the hand waving in front of my face and I saw Angela staring at me, worried.

"Oh, yeah I'm fine thanks" I said, smiling.

"What were you laughing at?" she asked, smiling back.

"Oh, you know, just eavesdropping on boys conversations"

She was about to lean in and ask for more information when my brother appeared. Some people were scared of Emmett Swan, I wasn't one of them. Although his big muscles may look terrifying and intimidating, I still remembered him when he used to play with his little pink rabbit named Mr. Snuffles which our Gran had bought him when he was a baby. In fact, he still had it.

"Hey Bella!" Emmett called out, "You're a long way from the front, why would you ever have to wait this long when you have a brother like me?"

And, in the next second, he picked me up in a fireman's lift, swinging me over his shoulder before I could protest and took me straight to the front of the line. None of the teachers bothered to argue, they all looked too amused.

Once he put me back on my feet I glared at him with all the strength I could muster. Trying to make my gaze as hate-filled as was humanely possible.

He didn't even pretend to look scared.

"What?" He asked in a fake-innocent voice. "I hate queueing"

That was just too much for the rest of the line which had previously been trying to contain their laughter. They all bursted out in loud hoots, even the teachers.

I grabbed a tuna salad and starmed off to go and sit down. Angela came over soon after, looking at me with sympathy, but there was also something else in her eye.

She looked around before she sat down, checking nobody else was listening nearby.

"After you erm…left" she said the last bit while choking back a giggle. "I heard Tanya talking about you and…." She glanced around nervously again and spotted Tanya walking towards us, her eyes widened. "All I'm going to say is, just be careful about what she says to you, I'm not sure that she is all that trustworthy, that's all."

Tanya had spotted us now and started to walk over with Jessica. I shot one last glance at Angela, telling her that I wanted to know more specifically what she was talking about.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After dinner we were heading down to the beach again, something I could look forward to as it meant that, for once, there would be a soft surface for me to fall onto instead of something which could quite possibly give me a bruise. On top of this it also meant that we would be able to watch the beautiful sunset again, across the ocean.

Walking down to the beach I kept a steady gaze on the floor beneath me, looking out for anything that might have the slightest chance of tripping me up. Causing injury to both myself and anyone else that could be near me at the time. Eventually I saw the hard tarmac dissolve into soft, inviting sand.

I took my shoes off, reveling in the warm feeling of the sand slipping through my toes.

I spent the evening up on some large boulders over looking the beach, watching the boys play volleyball and the girls making up random dance routines. And, as the sun slowly slipped beneath the water level, we got up and made our way back to the centre. I saw Edward Cullen leaving the beach a few paces in front of me, talking to Jasper and my brother. I wanted so badly to know what he was thinking, to know who, although I had a pretty good idea, he was talking about in the dinner queue.

I was about to stroll casually up to Emmett and start talking to him, while at the same time gauging Edward's reactions to me being there, when something hit me in the back, hard. I went sprawling onto the tarma road, landing heavily on my arm.

"Oh my gosh I am so sorry!", a small girls voice said from behind me. I sat up slowly, trying to force down the urge to be angry at the girl who had collided with me.

"It's…ok" I said, trying not to say it through my teeth. And as I turned around I vaguely remembered the girl but I couldn't quite place a name to her…And then, as if on cue,

"I'm Alice Cullen", She said, grinning. I opened my mouth to answer but she cut me off. "Oh, I already know your Bella Swan" She said with a knowing, almost smug smile, "you're Emmett's brother."

"Yeah…." I replied, trying not to look freaked out.

"I'm Edward's twin sister, how could I not recognise his best friends sister?"

"Oh, right" I answered, relieved. She gave me her hand to help me up and we began walking back, trying to catch up with the rest of the group which had already been swallowed by the darkness.

~*~*~*~*~*~

I woke up the next morning in a bright mood, making a new friend always did that to me.

Alice and I had more in common than I could ever have believed possible. We both _adored _rock music and Coldplay but, despite this, we were both happy people to be around. We both loved bright colours and pink wasn't either of our favourites. We only differed on one subject: shopping. While this was probably one of the things I enjoyed least it was Alice's passion. I decided to compare it to my passion for books, it would have been boring if we were exactly the same anyway.

I skipped out of bed, with Angela looking slightly mystified at the other end of the room, and knocked on Tanya and Jessica's door, telling them that it was time to get up. Next I jumped in the shower, quickly rubbing my favourite strawberry scented body wash all over. I then fixed me hair into a high side pony tail letting it curl naturally at the ends.

I got dressed quickly, putting on a blue silky dress with white ruffle along the neckline.

By the time I got out I realised that everyone had already gone to breakfast, I must have been daydreaming a lot.

I went out the door, picking up the kesy on the way and tried to lock the door. I couldn't do it. I felt absolutely pathetic, unable to lock a door. The corridor was empty so I called out for help, hoping that someone could hear me from the dining hall. I heard footsteps approaching and immediately relaxed.

"Honestly, how can you not lock a door?" A voice said from behind me, a perfect, musical voice…

**A/N : So that was the longest chapter I have ever written in my life, I hope you appreciated it. In the next one the action and drama shall start *evil laughter***

**Please review! I promise I will update quicker if you do, I only got what two reviews for the last chapter? Where is the incentive for a writer with that?**


	5. Jealousy? Rewrite, read AN please!

**A/N - I wasn't so pleased with this chapter so, as some of you may have realised, I took it down a while ago, meaning to re-write it but I haven't had the time. But today, as I discover for the first time the amazing and wonderful thing that is flu, I thougt I would finally do it. Not much has changd apart from the end and you will need to re-read it otherwise the next chapter (Which I am writing now) won't make any sense whatoever.**

**Enjoy!**

**Song for this chapter - '**Spaceman**' The Killers. **

I turned, trying to look as is I hadn't heard his voice in my dreams and felt as if I kew it better than some of my closest friends'.

"Hey Edward," I replied, smiling meekly.

"Honestly Bella, it could only be you that got left by yourself and couldn't lock your own door" he said, grinning in a glorious way. As he was saying this I tried hard to ignore the feeling which him saying my name had provoked within me and instead concentrated on keeping the scowl on my face at his critisicm. "Here, let me do that for you," he said, reaching for the key which I had forgotten all about ever since I heard his musical voice utter a syllable.

What am I thinking about? I suddenly thought. This guy is one of the biggest layers in the school, my best friend had warned me not to go near him, so what was I doing putting myself in such a compromising position. At this moment Edward turned the key in the lock and I heard a distinct click. He chuckled and I took that as my cue to leave, I needed to get away from him, before I began to ignore Tanya's advice.

"Hey! Wait! I was only joking, I'm sorry," by this time he had caught up with me and grabbed my arm, he turned me slowly so I was facing him. I quickly averted my eyes to the floor, knowing that if I looked at him, my resolve would shatter completely.

"Look at me Bella…" He murmured, tilting my chin upwards so I was forced to look at him and I saw the burning regret in his eyes, and there was something else there too…

"Bella, I need to talk to you," a furious voice snapped, but I was unwilling to let go of my moment of heaven. "Now!" the voice demanded, it was closer now and I flinched. Sighing I turned slowly, yo come face to face with a furious Tanya. Edward jumped back from me, and I immediately felt hurt. This is _wrong_ I thought, I shouldn't feel hurt simply because Tanya waked in before Edward could play any of his stupid games on me. I should be _glad._

Tanya grabbed my arm roughly and dragged me outside, her grip was rough, nothing like the feel of Edwards strong, yet soft hands as they wrapped around the tops of my arms, pulling me closer to him…

"What was that all about?" she demanded, her voice sounded spectacularly hoarse after Edwards….

No. I scolded myself. I couldn't think like this. It would only hurt so much more when nothing happened. Because nothing would happen. I'm just a plain, ordinary girl, and he is everything but.

"Well?" Tanya demanded, bringing me crashing down into reality.

"Nothing," I mumbled. "Nothing at all…"

"It had better have been," she replied, glaring. "I've warned you."

But for some reason, I was starting to stop believing her. When she was looking at me and Edward in the corridor, something else was burning in her eyes, something else beyond shock and maybe even anger. Could it possibly be…..jealousy?

At that moment Tanya turned on her heel and stormed away. Why was she so angry with me? I hadn't even done anything! I walked in the opposite direction shaking my head what was going on?

It was announced that we would be spending the day again on the beach, which I was happy about, I needed some more time to think.

As I followed the large crowd of babbling teenagers I spotted Angela just ahead of me talking to Ben Cheney, her face lit up as she smiled at something he said, and his expression mirrored her look of utter joy. Even though I was looking on from the outside this scene made me smile, I knew Angela had liked Ben for a while and it was nice to know that _sometimes _things worked out the way that they were supposed to.

Eventually I fought my way onto the bus and sat beside Angela in our usual place. She was staring out the window, a small smile playing on her lips, then she sighed happily.

"You sound like such a…Girl in love!" I proclaimed, laughing. She laughed along with me, both of us enjoying her happiness. Then her face suddenly darkened as she remembered something.

"If someone said something about you….Something bad, would you want me to tell you?," she asked, her face serious. "Especially if that person was your friend?"

"Is this about Tanya?," I responded, all the pieces of the puzzle slipping into place, including what Angela had said yesterday in the cafeteria.

"Yes," she answered, nodding slowly.

"Well in that case…Yes probably," I was nervous now, Tanya was not someone that should be messed with, I had seen her when people had crossed her and it was not a pretty sight, if she had something in for me then I was dead meat.

"I heard her say something about you fancying a boy…Edward maybe?," she wasn't looking at my face which was lucky as I blusjed crimson when she just said that one person's name. "Anyway, she was saying something to Jessica about it…And telling her to tell…umm…well…" Angela began to stutter, she looked incredibly nervous.

"Just tell me Angela," I said, sighing.

"Emmett," she finally managed to spit out. "She told Jessica to tall Emmett,".

"I…You…what…I…Cannot….Believe…," the words refused to make sense within my brain, Emmett was one of Edward's best friends. Not only would Emmett tease me for every single second in the day, he would also tell Edward. "No…" I moaned, sinking down in my seat, hoping the ground would open up and I could die with dignity.

"I _have _to find him before they do!," I yelled, causing Angela to jump and the whole bus to go silent and stare at me. I blushed crimson, but there were more pressing matters at hand.

"He's not on this bus today," Angela said, grabbing my hand. "He's on the other bus with…"

"Tanya and Jessica…" I whispered, falling back down onto my seat.

"I know this isn't really the time but…" Angela started, but I waved her on, nothing could embarrass me more right now. "Do you really like him?," except that. I shot upwards in my seat, trying to hide my cheeks as, yet again, they flushed crimson.

"No I don't!," I said, in a slightly hysterical voice.

"Okay, okay…You _don't_" she said, sounding the most sarcastic I had ever heard her.

_Eventually_, after what seemed like a century, we arrived at the beach. I dug out my iPod from my bag and headed for the beach, desperately searching for my brother. I spotted him walking off his bus, I ran towards him. And then stopped dead. He was talking to Jessica and Tanya and although he looked terrifyingly angry on the surface, I knew him well enough to spot the hint of amusment which was also playing under the surface on his face. I watched from a distance as he shouted at them, it looked like he was telling them off. Finally they scrurried off and I ran over to Emmett. On the way there I noticed people pointing at me and whispering, among the girls there was some laughing as well, but I shrugged it off.

"Whateveryoudo,DONOTlistentoawordjessicastanleysaystoyoutodayoranydayactually," I forced the whole sentence out in one breath and I was panting by the end of it.

"What?!" Emmett said, laughing like a maniac.

"Whatever _you do_, DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT, listen to one single word that Jessica Stanley says today, ok?"

"Oh…" Emmett said, trailing off. "You might…Umm…Be a bit late…,"

Anger was slowly filling me and I caould feel my eyes involutarily tearing up.

"What. Has. She. Told. You?!." I demanded, even Emmett looked a little scared.

"Well it wasn't so much as _me_, it was more like…" he trailed off coughing. As if he seriously believe I would not persue it any further than that.

"Who did she tell?," I asked as calmly as I possibly could. Emmett knew this was just the calm before the storm, and it was better to just tell me.

"She told…Umm…umm…the whole of our bus…" he trailed off again, looking scared.

"And what exactly did she say?," I asked, I was having a hard time keeping my voice level.

"She said that you fancied Edward Cullen." He said simply, looking nervous about my reation.

"Anything else?" I asked, my voice sounding deadly.

"N-No, nothing else," he said. At any other time I might have found this funny, Emmett looking scared of me, but right now, I couldn't think about anything else other than the fact that Jessica had told a _whole bus _that fancied Edward Cullen.

"Was Edward on your bus?" Angela asked for me, I was still too ngry to talk.

"No, he was on yours," Emmett answered, finally breaking away from my hard stare.

"Has he heard?" I asked, regaining control over my anger.

"I don't think so," Emmett replied.

"Well, can you please _try _and keep him from knowing?" I asked desperately.

"That's kind of a little imposs-" Emmett began, but I cut him off.

"Just _try, _okay?"

"I'll try my best," he vowed.

**A/N - Love it, hate it? PLEASE LET ME KNOW! (I shall love you FOREVER! And send out cyber Edwards) =]**

**P.S. Does anyone like Leona Lewis' cover of 'Run'? I hate it's guts and rant about it any time that it comes on but I was just wondering if anyone out there does actually like it. Snow Patrol just put in so much more emotion, if you haven't heard their original version, I suggest you go and listen to it now.**


	6. Regret? I Wish

**A/N - A chapter and a re-write in one day, woop! So this chapter is when the action _really _starts, mwahahaha. Next there is some good and some bad news, good news - I will be writing chapters more often now because I am totally loving writing at the moment, bad news - the gaps between uploading might be longer because my modem keeps breaking and I don't know how long it will be till I get a new one....Anyway, onto the chapter!**

**Songs for this chapter - '**All Fall Down**' - One Republic ; '**Pale**' - Within Temptation ; '**You Found Me**' - The Fray**

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I was furious at them both, Tanya and Jessica. They had no right to tell people my secrets, especially my brother. I was so furious I could feel tears begin to prick my eyes and a familiar lump form in my throat.I glanced at Angela for help, she stared back, pity evident in her eyes.

"I-It's not true, Emmett, seriously, they're lying" I tried to sound insistent, but I'd always been awful at lying.

Emmett straightened up, shocked."You don't actually fancy him then?" he asked, sounding almost....worried.

"No," I answered immediately. And I didn't, right? I wasn't lying. But at that moment as I simply uttered that two letter word I reslised I was actually lying, I did like Edward Cullen, as more than just a friend.

"Oh...Ok then..." Emmett said, he stared into my eyes then, almost as if trying to convey some vital message, something that I needed to know. I opened my mouth to ask him but, at that moment, he turned and walked away towards Jasper and Edward who I recognised from his extremely unusual coloured hair.

"What are you going to do?" Angela whispered to me, unaware of my distraction.

"Nothing, I'm sure he doesn't like me anyway," I sighed.

"I knew you did like him really," Angela said, smiling at me when I turned to her. "But I was actually talking about Tanya and Jessica,"

"I really don't know, I guess there isn't much you really can do, it's not like it's a federal crime. It's just really,  
really embarassing. Unless there is anything you can think of?" I asked, vaguely hoping for some magical cure for my situation.

"No, I'm sorry, I really don't know what is the answer to this," she answered, sighing.

At that moment Tanya walked over to Edward and began talking to him, I knew my face was already locked into a mask of horror but, just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, she turned and pointed at me. Edward turned with her and mt my gaze. I immediately dropped my eyes to the floor. I turned to Angela.

"Come on, let's go," I mumbled not meeting her gaze. I didn't even wait for her to respond, I simply walked off hoping that she would follow.

"Bella?!" I heard a voice call, I turned, expecting it to be Angela. Instead I came face to face with Alice.

"Oh...Hey..." I said, I didn't reall want to talk to Alice at the moment, I knew that she would just ask me about her brother and I didn't want to go through everything all over again. The quicker I stoppd thinking about it, the quicker I hoped everyone would forget about it.

"Look, I know you probably don't want to talk to me after everything that's happened, but I just ant you to know that I am not going to say a word about it unless you want me to," she said insistently.

I simply stared, gobsmacked. Alhtoug I hadn't met Alice before we came on this trip, she had a reputation as the kind of girl who liked to know everything about everyone. And now, after my experience with Jessica, who also had that reputation, I simply assumed that they weren't nice people. I was obviously more wrong than I could imagine.

"Hello? Bella? Anyone there?" Alice said, waving her hand in front of my face.

"Oh, sorry," I responded. Then I suddenly realised I _did_ want to talk to Alice about it, and I knew that she might be able to come up with a good revenge plan.

"Actually Alice, can I talk to you?" I said quietly.

"Of _course_ you can Bella, come with me." She led me across th beach, away from everyone else.

"Okay then Bella, go," She said.

"I really don't know what to do," I confessed.

"Well, I will understand if you on't ant to tell me this but...is it true?" She asked.

I blushed, this was the one thing that I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell her. Would she be just the same as Jessica?

"I promise I won't tell anyone, not even Edward," She said, "I know he's my brother but personally, I'm more for friends"  
she said, smiling kindly. I smiled back.

"Well, I never actually said to Tanya that I fancied him, I simply said that I thought he was quite....nice?" I knew that wasn't quite the right word but I had to remember that I was still talking to his sister. "I just wanted to get to know him,  
I don't know, just talk to him maybe? But then, all this happened and I realised, I wanted more,"

I looked up at Alice again and saw that she was smiling, in a peaceful and content way.

"What?" I couldn't find a single part of that statement that could be considered something good or happy.

"Oh nothing, I just like to hear a story with a happy ending-" she clapped her hand over her mouth, as if she'd said a little too much.

"How does that have a hap-" I began, but Alice cut me off.

"Don't worry," she said in a rush. "ANYWAY, I have something to confess to you...," she trailed off, blushing.

"Oh, oh, OH! Alice has a crush, doesn't she," I said, smiling.

"I might...,"

"Who is it?" I asked, desperate to take the focus off me.

"Umm...Jasper Whitlock," She said, sighing at his name.

"You sound like such a....Girl in love," I said and we laughed together.

"Well anyway, shall we just try and forget about boys for now?" Alice said and I nodded instantly, I couldn't stand the worry any more.

At that moment Ben Cheney walked over, his eyes set on me.

"Hey, Bella!" he said.

"Hi, Ben," I replied smiling.

"Is it true you fancy Edward?" he asked, excitment evident in his voice.

I glanced sideways at Alice and saw that she was staring at Ben, her mouth open.

"N-No, where on earth did you get that from?" I answered, trying not to look shocked and betrayed.

"Oh, Tanya told me," he answered.

"Oh right, well I don't know where she got that from," I said, pretending to look confused. "Well did she tell anyne else?" I asked, anxious for the answer.

"Yeah, a few people I think,"

My breathing stopped, why was she doing this?

"How many people do you think, roughly?" I asked, now sounding vaguely desperate, I needed to keep my voice under control.

"I don't know, apart from the bus that her and Jessica were on, I would say about twenty more,"

I felt like my legs were turning to jelly, and not in the way that they did when I was around Edward, this was a bad feeling, I just wanted to dig myself a hole in the sand and die. There was no way that Edward wouldn't find out now, my cheeks flamed red.

"Well if anyone asks you, it's not true, ok? Tell anyone that you can,"

"Alright, if you say so...," he walked away, I could tell that he didn't believe me.

"What. A. Bit-" Alice started.

"I actually thought she was my friend," I said, my brain still couldn't comprehend what she had done to me.

"I know...Let's just get out of here, we can go into town for a bit if you want,"

"Sounds good," I said, smiling.

We walked up the beach together, talking about anything and everything. I just really wanted to escape this day, this week if I was being honest with myself. But Alice was a friend I knew I would keep, she was someone that I knew I cold rely on to always be there for me. And although I knew that I could always rely on Angela to keep any secrets that I might tell her, Alice would have the confidence to actually stick up for me in public, and that as something that I admired in her.

"Oh. My. God." Alice whispered, I turned to ask her what she was staring at when I saw it. Or rather, them.

Edward was leaning towards a girl, and suddenly, is lips were attachd to hers, they moved in syncronisation while the crowd around them hooted and cheered.  
Only one of the crowd obviously did not like what he was seeing and that was Emmett, he looked on with his arms crossed, lips pursed. He looked like he wanted to say something about it, but couldn't find the words he wanted to use.

At that moment they broke apart and the girls face emerged from behind Edward's shoulder.

Tanya.

She saw me staring and smirked, looking smug. Edward turned to see what she was looking at and caught sight of my expression, immediately his face turned into a look of horror and guilt, but I didn' even want to begin to try and decipher the reason behind that look, I felt too betrayed.

Too much had happened today.

I ran off, not wanting Alice to see the tears that were beginning to spill from my eyes. I ran off the beach towards town. I heard Alice, Edward and Emmett all calling my name but I couldn't face them yet, I needed time to pull myself together. In the distance I heard Alice screaming at Edward and a resounding slap as she hit him. A part felt amazingly relieved hat he ws feeling a fraction of the pain that I felt, but a larger portion of me ached to go and comfort him, and I hated it. Feeling so confused.

I carried on running, unaware of where I was heading. But all too soon, I tripped, over nothing most likely, and tumbled to the floor. I felt the rough cobbles graze my legs, but I didn't feel any pain, my thoughts were too consumed in other matters. I stayed curled up on the floor, I was in a deserted alleyway, far away from anyone. I didn't want anyone to see me like this anyway.

I don't know how long I sat there, just trying so hard not to think about what I had seen. It could have been seconds, minutes or even hours.

Eventually I heard the inevitable footsteps, I sighed, preparing to get up. At that moment Alice and Emmett emerged at the top of the alleyway. A small part of my mind wonderd why Edward wasn't with them as he had been calling me back before, but then I reminded myself that he didn't care about me and there was no reason for him to want to see me.

I stood up, faintly hearing Alice and Emmett talking to me but the words wouldn't register in my mind.

**A/N - I hoped you liked it, remember Review**Review**Review Please!**


	7. Guilt

**A/N - Another chapter, within a short space of time, I told you that I would get better! And now I would just like to say thank you for all the reviews, alerts and favorite's for this story, it all means so much.**

**Song for this chapter - '**Breakeven**' - The Script (How sad is this song?!?)**

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_Sometimes you don't know something is missing until it is found, love for instance, can complete people in a way that they may never have thought possible before they meet that one person that makes themselves complete._

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* * *

_

I felt awful.

Over someone that I hadn't realised I had actually liked till very, _very _recently. I had fallen, hard, harder than I might have thought possible previously. I didn't

even know what to do about it. Alice had tried to convince me that he was worthless to worry about and there was no point shedding a single tear over him. But how

could I listen to that? He was her brother, it was easy for her to say that, rational thinking refuses to exist when you care for someone deeply. And as for being angry, although Edward had broken my heart, I couldn't bring myself to hate him like any other teenager might towards the one person they believed was 'the one' until he did something that they didn't like. Alice, on the other hand, was absolutely livid. Ever since she had hit her brother, with all of her strength apparently, she would not speak a single word to him.

The one good thing that had come out of it was that I managed to swap dorms so that I was sharing one with Alice. I had been unable to face Jessica since earlier

and I didn't even want to go anywhere near Tanya. I had intercepted plety of smug stares from her, her eyes conveying a message that was easy to decipher. 'I

Won'.

"Come one Bella, you need to eat," Alice insisted, dragging me off the bed.

I walked quickly down the corridor with Alice, but as we reached my old dorm images popped into my head before I was able to block them. Edward leaning

towards me, his hand brushing against mine as he reached for the key, the sound of his laughter....

Tears began to well in my eyes. But I carried on walking, I wouldn't let her win. Or him.

Suddenly, Alice's footsteps stopped beside me.

"Hey, Alice" I heard a male voice say. I looked up, hoping that I was imagining that wonderfully familiar voice.

I wasn't.

Edward stood in front of Alice and although he had greeted her, he was looking intently at me.

"Come on Bella," Alice muttered, pulling me away. But I couldn't break away from his gaze. Everything else in the world melted away, nothing else mattered besides

his eyes. "Bella," Alice said more insistently. "Let's _go_," she dragged me away from Edward's gaze.

"Are you seriously so much of a pushover?" Alice said, sighing. "One look into his eyes and it looks like you've forgiven him already,"

"There was nothing to forgive," I murmered, still trapped in my thoughts.

"What are you _talking _about?!" Alice asked, spinning me around to face her.

"He didn't _do _anything," I replied. "He didn't know that I liked him, therefore he hasn't done anything to directly hurt me in anyway, it would just be infantile to be annoyed with him,"

She rolled her eyes, "You make sense too much,". We carried on walking, "Seriously though," she continued, "Why are you being so grown up about this? He made you cry! And God knows Emmett would love to have a go at him,"

"And you believe that all Emmett wants to do is talk?" I replied, facing her.

"Maybe it would be a good thing if that isn't all-" she began.

"He _shouldn't _be hurt simply because he doesn't feel the same way I do!"

She sighed and frowned, "You're making sense again…"

I smiled, despite my mood, "Glad too hear it,".

By this time we had reached the cafeteria, I quickly scanned the room. Tanya was looking at me, smiling, without the tiniest hint of friendliness, Edward was sitting next to her, staring at the desk intently. My heart sank even lower as I noticed Angela whispering with Jessica nearby, I felt like Alice standing beside me was the only reason that I wasn't sprinting back out of the door. I lowered my head to the ground and let Alice guide me to a table, away from the gossiping going on behind us.

"Bella," Alice murmered, tilting my head up with one of her fingers so that I was forced to look at her. "Do you want to go?"

"Yes," I whispered back desperately. To break down in public would not help my situation any further, let alone how embarassed I felt.

She stood up swiftly and together we walked out of the cafeteria without a backward glance, no matter how much my heart ached for me to.

* * *

"You know, the last night dance is coming up soon…" Alice hinted, while sorting through the clothes in our make-shift wardrobe.

"Alice, it's the last night tonight," I said, raising my eyebrow.

"I meant soon as in, a few hours,"

"I'm not going Alice," I said, knowing what she was getting at.

She gasped and turned round to face me. "_What did you just say?!?!"_ she demanded, looking livid.

"I. Am. Not. Going. To. The. Dance." I replied, emphasising each syllable.

"Oh yes you are Bella! As your friend, _best friend_, I would like to think, I refuse to pass down the duty of forcing you to come to this dance. Even if it shall be kicking and screaming,"

"Firstly, you are my best friend. And secondly, when did I miss the holy book that was written within which that was declared?"

She simply stared at me, wide eyed, and blinking. She reminded me of an adorable dog.

"Aww, come on Alice! You know I can never resist that face," she simply carried on staring. "Okay, Okay, I'll go!"

"Yay!" she replied brightly, dropping the heartbreaking expression immediately. "What have you got to wear?"

"Ummm, nothing I don't think," desperately trying to lie about the strapless red dress buried at the very depths of my suitcase.

"Your lying," she sang simply. And skipped over to my case. Rumaging through it, she eventually emerged, with a triumphant 'aha!'. And brought out with her the simple red dress.

"This is gorgeous! Why don't you want to wear it?" she asked, incredulous.

"Because, it'll look over the top and…I'll look silly, and it will look awful on me," I replied, _attempting _to sound convincing.

She merely stood there, hand on hip, nodding sarcastically.

"No you won't, no you won't and…hmmm…_no it won't!_" she said. "Now get upstairs and put it on, we only have," she paused to look at her iPhone, "two hours before the dance begins to get ready, now _go_!". She pushed me towards the stairs and, although I did stumble, I luckily didn't fall.

I changed quickly, praying that Alice wouls see how truly awful the dress looked on me and allow me to just stay in our dorm for the night. I trudged down the stairs, coming to a standstill infront of Alice. I opened my eyes slowly to peek at her expression, her mouth was open, gaping.

"That bad, huh?" I asked, slightly worried by her face.

She shook her head vigorously. "_Good?"_ I asked, not believing her.

She grabbed my elbow wordlessly and led me through to the bathroom where the only mirror in the whole dorm was. I stood in front of it, my expression now matching hers. The dress was simple, red with a line of buttons down the front and it stopped just above my knees. But the reason it made me so speechless was how it actually gave my body _shape,_ something I never thought existed.

"It just needs...." Alice said, and dashed out of the room. She returned soon with a wide belt that was red with large white spots on it, it fit perfectly with the dress.

"Now, for hair!" She squealed, launching herself at me.

I sat for the next half an hour with Alice working over my hair. Although I hated being a barbie doll, I felt a larger dread about going into that room. In a school dance there never fails to be a slow dance and to see Tanya with Edward...I don't think that I could take it.

"Finished!" Alice announced, sounding pleased with herself. She spun me around to face the mirror and, yet again, I couldn't believe what I saw. Alice had put half my hair up into a large quiff, almost verging on becoming a beehive, the rest she had left down and tied into a side ponytail. It looked wonderful.

"Thank you Alice!" I replied, ecstatic. Now my journey through tonight might be a little less awful.

"That's okay, now, go and sit down on the bed, take a book or something, and do not, I repeat, _do not, _move for the next hour while I get ready, comprende?"

"Sir, yes sir!" I replied, saluting her in a military style.

She just laughed and shoved me towards the bedroom that we kept our clothes in. As only the two of us were sharing one dorm it meant that we could sleep in the one room and keep our clothes in the other. At first we slept in separate rooms, but Alice said that she got lonely and wanted to gossip with me.

I ignored Alice's commands slightly and headed towards the French windows that lead out onto the communal lawn that was at the front of all our schools dorms. I opened the shutters slowly and welcomed the late afternoon sunlight that streamed onto the exposed parts of my body, warming my skin gently. I stepped out further, despite the rough, spiky grass beneath my feet, and reveled in the feeling. Suddenly, I heard the noise of footsteps nearby to me. I whipped my head around and caught sight of Edward staring at me, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Even though I knew it was childish, I ran back towards the room, desperately searching for a clear path in hope that I wouldn't fall. Luckily, fate was on my side and I made it all the way without tripping once. I went straight to the bathroom hoping that not a single hair would be out of place, knowing Alice would kill me if it might be otherwise. I was lucky again, all was fine.

I made my way back to the bedroom, this time taking my favorite book _Wuthering Heights _with me, and quietly sat down on the bed and began to read.

* * *

"Ta-dah!" Alice said, spinning around in front of me. She was wearing a simple, dark blue, strapless, linen dress. Although there was a little intricate beading around the bust it seemed to fit in with the holiday scene. It was light and airy, and she wore it with a white shoulder shrug, making sure that she didn't look too dark.

"Wow, Alice, just wow," I said, simply stunned. She looked amazing.

"It's nothing compared to how you look," she replied. I merely laughed and rolled my eyes visibly.

"Don't deny it Bella," she sang. "Now then, let's go!"

She dragged me up off the bed and pulled me towards the door. We went outside and she began to walk off.

"Umm, Alice?" I called after her.

"Yeah?" She said, turning back around to face me.

"Can you lock the door please?" I said, blushing.

"Why can't you do it?" She replied.

"I had a bit of trouble last time... Locking the door I mean," I blushed even harder.

She just burst out laughing and returned back up the hall.

* * *

"Having fun then?" Alice asked, shouting over the loud music. I just grabbed her arm and dragged her out towards the bar, I didn't want to yell over the music.

"Yeah, I guess it isn't so bad, but the music's pretty awful though" I said, my voice returning to the normal level as we walked further away from the hall where the dance was being held. Edward was yet to arrive and that had eased a little of my stress about coming. However, Tanya hadn't exactly helped that situation.

"Hallelujah! Isabella Marie Swan has _finally _realized that dancing is not the most awful thing in the whole world!"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, shoving her slightly. We both bought drinks and Alice headed back to the hall.

"Hey, are you coming Bella?" Alice called.

"Actually, I'm a little hot, I think I might go outside, I'm a little warm,"

"Okay, I'll see you in a bit then," Alice said, disappearing back into the crowds.

I followed the path out onto a small patio at the rear of the building. There was nobody out here, silence, except the faint noise of the ocean against the sand. The sound was comforting, and I found myself drawn to it. I followed the path that lead down onto the beach, taking my shoes off as they began to sink into the sand, still warm from the sun which had now long since disappeared beneath the horizon.

Finally I emerged on the top of the sand dune I had been climbing. The ocean stretched out in front of me, black ink, with the white trail the moon splashed across the relatively calm surface. The noise which had drawn me, the sound of the waves pulling at the sand, had now intensified and was all the more appealing.

I froze as I heard footsteps approaching me from behind.

"You know, you really shouldn't come out here alone," A voice whispered in my ear, the breath tickling my earlobe. Immediately the part of me which had been tensed to attack a stranger, relaxed. But my heart clenched, hearing that voice, Edward's voice.

I stood up immediately, and took a step to leave. But, before I could, Edward grabbed my arm, pulling me back.

"Don't go," he pleaded. "I want to apologize,"

"For what?" I asked, trying desperately to blink back tears.

Suddenly the space between us vanished, and he was right in front of me.

"For doing this to somebody else instead of you,"

And then his lips were upon mine. My mind didn't even register what he had said, what my own name was. All that mattered was how our lips were connected, moving in synchronization. It felt perfect, more natural than breathing, I couldn't even believe that this was happening. But, as my mind caught up with reality, I knew that this couldn't happen. And, no matter how much I wanted this to feel completely and utterly right, it didn't. And it was killing me each second that the realization sank through me.

I ripped myself away, my arms immediately felt empty.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, "I can't do this to her,"

And I ran, away from Edward's shocked face, away from everything that I so desperately wanted, away from everything that I had always hoped for.

**A/N - Review Please!**


	8. I'm an Idiot, I'm a Moron

**A/N- Woot chapter the eighth! Thankyou for all your lovely reviews last time, it felt so nice to feel that appreciated :D. I felt incredibly uninspired while writing this chapter, but I hope it doesn't come across that way. This is, I'm afraid, more of a filler. But I _think _Edward and Bella will be getting together soon. I can't wait to write that chapter :) Oh and just as a little extra information, I have written about two new Twilight (Of course) fanfiction's that I will be writing after this one is done. Have a look at my profile for all the details :)**

**Songs for the Chapter - '**Lost!**' - Coldplay ; '**Run**' - Snow Patrol (NOT Leona Lewis ;) )**

I was stupid, idiotic and I hated my ability to feel guilty at hurting people. Why should I even feel guilty? _Tanya _had been the one to kiss him purposefully in front of a large crowd to embarrass and upset me. _Tanya _had been the one that simply wanted to be with him to make me feel upset and truly worthless. So _why _did I have to feel guilty about kissing the man of my dreams. The man, in that second, minute, or even hour that we were connected, just felt _right_. Is there ever an actual way that you can be with the person you want to be with, no strings attached?

"Bella?" I heard Alice call from down stairs, I stayed silent and wrapped myself tighter in the duvet, I was still dressed.

"Bella, are you in here?" Alice called, closer now.

"No," I mumbled into my duvet, hoping she would go away. But, for some reason, she seemed to have superhuman hearing and ran up the remaining stair and into our room.

"Why are you lying in the dark?" She asked, flipping on the light switch and momentarily blinding me with the light. I groaned and turned over gain, burying my head into the duvet. I felt the bed indent slightly as she sat down beside me.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She murmured, rubbing my back in a soothing manner.

"I kissed him," I said slowly, turning over to see her reaction.

"Who? Him as in _him_?" She aid, growing more excited my the second.

"If you mean him as in," I swallowed before saying his name. "Edward, then yes, you are correct," I braced myself for the squealing.

And Alice didn't disappoint.

"Are you _serious_? You. Kissed. Edward! I knew you were supposed to be together ever since he told me-"

"But I ran away afterwards, I said that I couldn't do it," I had to stop her, I was starting to imagine what _could _have happened, had I not gone.

"Do what?" She asked slowly, her hyper mood evaporating quickly, I could almost feel how nervous she was for my reply.

"Be with him," I whispered. "It was everything that I wanted and I just...Threw it all away,"

"Why?" She asked, her face displaying all the shock that was present in her voice.

"Because, even though she's a selfish, manipulative, _evil_person. I could never do that to Tanya, to anyone. I think cheating is just about one of the worst things that you can do to someone and I knew that if I had stayed any longer, and continued to kiss him, then all of my will to do the right thing would have crumble into dust and then, tomorrow, I would feel awful for hurting her in that way, despite everything that she has done to me," I explained. However, as I said my argument out loud, I realised how weak it really was. I remembered every single insignificant detail of what Tanya had done to me, and realised, she did not deserve a single ounce of my guilt. I also realised, I'd been a complete and utter idiotic moron. "I'm an idiotic moron aren't I?" I asked.

"Umm..." She said, tapping one finger against her chin, as if pretending to think. "Yep," she replied quickly. I wanted to hit myself, I'd just ruined an idyllic moment with Edward, for nothing.

"Well, if he did ever like me, he's going to plain _hate_ me now,"

"No, I'm sure he won't," Alice said, but, although she tried to hide it well, I could hear the faint trace of uncertainty within her voice. "Anyway, we need to go to sleep now, it's nearly eleven and we have to be up at six tomorrow so tat they can load all the suitcases onto the buses in time,"

I got ready for bed mechanically, I still felt like an idiot and was well aware that I had probably just blown the greatest chance that I ever had, of getting together with Edward Cullen.

* * *

"Wakey, wakey Bella," Alice sang in my ear, _way _too chirpy for the early hour in my mind. I just sighed and rolled over, attempting to get back to sleep. She wasn't having that. She ripped the covers off me, exposing me to the cold, morning air. I shot bolt upright.

"Just a few more minutes..." I pleaded. But Alice shook her head without a hint of mercy, I glared back at her.

"Up, up," she said, grabbing my arm and pulling me out of bed. I sighed and decided to cooperate. I took my time in the shower though, to get my own back on Alice slightly.

"Get your butt out of there within the next few minutes otherwise I'm coming in to get you!" she warned, and I decided it might be a good idea to take her advice at this point, I didn't doubt what she said.

I got dressed quickly and hurried upstairs to get dressed and pack my things. Annoying Alice had cost me quite a bit of time and I had to hurry to pack everything away. I stroked the length of the red dress before packing it back into the case, remembering how it had felt to be standing so close to Edward. Connected in so many more ways than one. I sighed, remembering how badly I had messed everything up, and continued to pack.

After what seemed like a significant time later, both me and Alice were packed and ready to go. We trudged across the lawn, dragging our suitcases behind us.

"So, what are you going to do?" Alice asked quietly, her voice showing that she obviously did care.

"I don't know, I really don't know," I murmured back, watching Edward help load the suitcases onto the coach, from afar.

* * *

"Bella, come sit here!" I heard Alice call, I fought my way through the many huddles of teenagers, arguing about who they were going to sit next to, until I finally found Alice. But, as I sat down, I realised that we weren't alone. Jasper Hale was sitting beside Alice, smiling at her.

"Bella, meet Jasper, he has nowhere else to sit, so I said he could sit with us, that's alright isn't it?" Alice said, as soon as her head turned towards me, and her expression was out of his line of sight, her face broke into a wide smile, her eyes dancing with excitement. The sight made me smile too.

"Of course not," I said, smiling at Jasper. "How _very _considerate of you," I added, turning to her.

Time passed, and the plane filled up. Alice and Jasper were engrossed in a conversation about the music on Alice's iPod and I felt like a little bit of an outsider. Until I felt somebody sit down beside me. I turned to see who it was, and froze.

"Hello Bella," Edward said, not looking me in the eye. "I want to apologise for last night, I guess you don't feel the same way as I do, and that's fine. I just want to be friends, if that's okay with you,". By the time he was finished his cheeks were burning, matching mine. He had got entirely the wrong message, he had thought that I _didn't want to be with him_.

"That's not what I meant," I said slowly.

"What?" he asked quickly, his eyes locking with mine and showing such fierce hope I simply wanted to kiss him again like we did last night. I wanted to rewind time.

"When I went...I wanted to stay, and I've realised today, I should have. I didn't go because I didn't _like _you, it was because I felt guilty," I explained.

"About what?" He asked, hope growing even more within his eyes.

"The fact that I was hurting her. Tanya, I mean,"

"But, one moment, _you _like me?" he asked, his voice sounded incredulous and had a hint of trepidation in it as well.

My cheeks flamed, I didn't know what to say.

"I didn't think so," he murmured, lying his head back against the headrest.

Alice elbowed me in the ribs, hard.

"What are you _doing_," Alice hissed in my ear. "Why didn't you say yes,"

"_Because_, I don't want to embarrass myself. And don't tell him yourself. _Please_?"

"Okay, but I'm not happy about it," She said, narrowing her eyes at me. "And if I think the right time comes, then I shall intervene," Alice added threateningly.

* * *

The rest of the plane ride was uneventful, until we hit some turbulence. I didn't exactly have what might be called a fear of flying, but what kind of a sane person enjoys turbulence? I gripped the armrests until my knuckles were bone white and braced myself against the back of the chair, becoming as flat as possible. As the plane dropped again, I closed my eyes, trying to hold onto my last meal.

"Are you okay Bella?" Alice asked.

"Yes," I said, but my voice came out as a high-pitched, barely-audible whisper.

"Put some music on, it might help a little if you couldn't hear the noises," Alice suggested.

I opened my eyes a crack, just enough so I could select 'Run' by Snow Patrol and then tried to immerse myself in the lyrics and notes of the guitar, it helped a little.

After what had seemed like a century, the plane started to descend under the captains own command and I began to relax a little. But, guilt still remained, weighing me down. Edward and I hadn't shared another word for the rest of the plane journey, and for some reason, that made me feel guilty. I had gone over and over our conversation in my head and I couldn't find a thing that I might have said that could have upset him. And, as we boarded the smaller plane to take from Seattle to Port Angeles, Edward went and sat beside Tanya instead, kissing her passionately when I walked past.

Despite the fact Tanya may not have meant it, it might have been a good idea to stay away from Edward Cullen.

Alice and Jasper sat next to each other again on the smaller plane and, even an idiot could tell, they were made for each other. They were the perfect balance of everything. Alice was loud and outgoing, while Jasper was quiet and withdrawn, yet they met halfway in the middle while together, neutral.

I sighed and lay my head back, everything had become so messed up, and the one thing I had done to try and put it right was a waste of time, if anything, making it worse.

* * *

I was met at the airport by Charlie, who helped me carry my suitcase back towards his car. Me and Alice swapped mobile numbers and vowed to meet before school again tomorrow.

I took one last look around before getting into the car. I saw Edward staring at me.

Longing was evident in his eyes. Then he turned and kissed Tanya.

I give up.

**A/N - Reviews? Why, yes please.**


	9. Not thinking of you, Thinking of you

**A/N - Okay, I'm sorry? SO much has been going on recently, and I just haven't had time to update. But I have been writing as I have now found a way in which I can type the chapters on my iPod and then email them to my comp. so everything _should _be moving a little quicker now.**

**However, on the plus side, it's snowing outside right now. *Jumps around happily* so hopefully I might get a day off school tomorrow.**

**Song for this chap. - '**Thinking of You**'; Katy Perry. I know not all the words go, but the ones that do, go _really _well.**

I slept fitfully that night. Every time I slid my eyes shut, his face  
would flash across my peripherary, taunting me. I just could not  
understand him at all. And Alice was certainly not helping me either.  
Her cryptic comments frustrated me even further, I hated to have a  
mystery that couldn't be solved. Eventually, after my mind had finally  
managed to calm slightly, I slipped into a dreamless sleep.

I awoke the next morning to a pale slither of light shining through  
the curtains, illuminating a strip of wall opposite it and giving the  
room a little bit more life. I slid out of bed, shutting the alarm  
clock off as I moved, and leapt quickly into the shower. I had decided  
to forget as best I could about Edward Cullen, should he not want to  
be friendly with me, then I shall make the feeling mutual.

I skipped down the stairs, feeling lighter having had that epiphany,  
until I slipped on the bottom step, I tumbled to the ground and landed  
painfully on my rear. But, after many years of practice, I simply  
grimaced a little and stood up, hobbling away quickly.

I made my way into the kitchen already smelling a fried breakfast in  
the making, I rounded the corner to see Emmett holding a frying pan in  
his hand with a comical expression on his face, it was a cross between  
concentration and sheer frustration.

"What's up?" I asked, making my way over to him. He jumped, not having  
heard me enter and then went back to staring at the frying pan, this  
time clasping his hands behind his back, I stifled a giggle.

"How do you know when bacon is cooked?" He asked, sounding utterly  
mystified.

"Well, when it's the right colour for a start," I replied, still  
trying hard not to laugh.

"So that's brown, right?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the pan  
again.

"Brown?!" I asked, unable to hold in my laughter any further. "Why  
would you say that?"

He turned, frowning at me. "Well, that's what colour you make pork,  
right?"

I just rolled my eyes and looked over his shoulder into the frying  
pan. "That's done," I said simply, ignoring his question.

He served up his breakfast while I grabbed a piece of toast, not  
bothered enough to make anything as fancy as Emmett.

~*~*~

We arrived at school early, only two more cars in the parking lot, one  
being Edward's Volvo which I recognized from yesterday and the other  
being Emmetts girlfriend, Rosalie's, red convertible. As soon as they  
lay eyes on each other they ran towards each other, locked in a fierce  
embrace and kissed passionately. I rolled my eyes, anyone would have  
thought that they hadn't seem each other for years rather than a week.  
When Emmett had found out that Rosalie hadn't got a place on the trip  
he very nearly gave up his own had it not been for his big brother  
protective side that kicked in and decided that he didn't want me on  
an entirely different continent without him. He was entirely over the  
top.

Next, Alice climbed out of Edward's Volvo and ran towards Rosalie's  
car. I frowned, Rosalie was a little busy and it's not like Alice to interrupt a romantic moment. But my questions were answered when Jasper  
stepped out of the car and strolled towards her. His legs were so long  
that it only took a few strides for him to cross the same distance as  
she had in twice as long. I smiled as he took her into his embrace and  
bent down so that he could lean his forehead against hers, whispering  
to her.

I had been so wrapped up in watching the reunions of my friends that I  
hadn't noticed the student car park slowly filling up around me. I  
sighed grabbing my bag and began to make a move towards my next  
lesson. As I walked across the lot I caught sight of Edward talking to  
Tanya in a far away corner, they both looked angry, Edward turned his  
head slightly in my direction and caught sight of me looking at him,  
he smiled, in a way only he could, and then turned back to Tanya,  
rolling his eyes at me, gesturing towards Tanya. I turned away,  
shaking my head, that boy would forever be a mystery to me.

I carried on towards my next lesson, trying to push my thoughts of  
Edward out of my head, that wouldn't help anything. I carried on my  
way, barely noticing the students around me, consumed by my thoughts  
as I was.

The day passed as a blur until lunch. I ran into Alice on the way to  
the cafeteria. She was bouncing with excitment when she saw me,  
although we had seen each other the day before.

"Hi Bella!" she squealed. "Why don't you come and sit with us  
instead?" she asked, looking so happy that I didn't have a hope of  
saying no.

"Okay then," I answered, sighing. Going to that table would certainly not help in keeping my mind an 'Edward-free' zone, but Alice had quickly become my best friend and it would be unfair to leave her out in the dark simply because I didn't get along with her brother.

She skipped ahead of me towards their table in the corner of the room, no wonder I had never seen them before if they kept themselves so far away from everyone else. I sat down next to Alice which was, unfortunately, opposite Edward. I felt childish for having these kinds of thoughts, but, what else was I supposed to do? I couldn't confront Edward about my feelings, but it seemed that no matter where I turned, he was there. And he would be for the considerable future as Alice was my best friend. I realised then that she had been talking to me the whole time I was daydreaming. I quickly turned my attention back to her, hoping I hadn't hurt her feelings.

"...This Saturday okay then, right Bella?" She asked, I blused realising I hadn't even heard the question.

"For what?" I asked, completely mystified. I normally just stayed at home on weekends, doing homework and just generally walking around aimlessly.

"Shopping!" She said, sighing. "You weren't listening to a word I just said were you?"

"I... Well..... I..... No," I replied. "I kind of zoned out as soon as I sat down, sorry,"

"Don't worry, just say yes, and we're okay," she said smiling back at me. I began to reply when suddenly Edward leant over the table towards me.

"I wouldn't say yes if you value your life," he said, smirking at Alice who was glaring back at him. "Or should I say rather, if you value your _feet_,"

I laughed shakily, still stunned by his close proximity.

"Shut up Edward," Alice muttered, giving him a deadly glare. "If you value _your _life, or rather if you value....," at that point she leaned in and whispered something into his ear, too low for me to hear, whatever it was though must have been serious as when he leant away again, his eyes were fearful.

"You wouldn't," he murmered, his eyes unfocused.

"Are you doubting me?" she asked. "Because believe me, I will do it right here," she said, smiling in an evil way.

"What are you talking about?" I asked suddenly, breaking them out of their little world and alerting them to my presence again.

"Nothing," Edward said quickly, a little too quickly for it to be believable. I stared into his eyes, questioning him, but he just lowered his head.

"So, are you coming on Saturday?" Alice asked again.

"Okay then," I replied sighing, still not taking my eyes off Edward, his head still lowered.

"Why don't you come and sleep over afterwards?" She asked. "I could ask Rose too, girls night," she said, squealing.I rolled my eyes at how childish she sounded, and how excited she was simply about shopping and a sleepover. "Okay then," I said knowing I

would probably regret this when of came down to it, especially after  
what Edward had said.

"Great!" She replied. "I'll just go and ask Rose then!" At that she  
lent accross the table and began to talk to Rosalie. She obviously  
took a little more interest in it than me as her and Alove were soon  
deeply immersed in a conversation.

I sighed, turning away. This could be fun, I reasoned with myself. Ms  
I was still desperately clinging to that hope when Edward leant  
accross to speak to me again.

"Don't worry I'm sure it won't be _too_ bad...," he trailed off after  
seeing my  
disbelieving stare.

"This is _Alice_ we're talking about here." I replied. "Alice as in your  
sister, as in Alice _Cullen_,"

"Don't worry, I'll protect you," as he said this his eyes burned into  
my eyes with such intensity I was powerless to do anything but believe  
him.

An awkward silence fell over us as he leaned back and I tried to slow  
my breathing without him noticing it had speeded at all. Just at the  
right moment Emmett came over with Jasper next to him.

Emmett leant over and whispered something into Edwards ear, but as his  
normal voice was so loud I could understand perfectly what he was  
saying.

"Have me and Jasper 'round too, we can do a bit of terrorising...," he  
trailed off while Edward looked towards me, a slow smile spreading  
accross his face.

"Emmett," Edward said seriously, twisting around so he could grab the  
tops of Emmett's shoulders. "Don't be scared but, I think you've had a  
good idea,"

I stifled a giggle, boys could be quite immature at times. Even boys  
like Edward.

~*~*~*~*~

The rest of the week passed slowly. Time seemed to drag by, taunting  
me simply because I was looking forward to something. And, despite  
Edwards warning, I even began to look forward to going shopping with  
Alice.

Despite my best efforts, I discovered after Monday when Edward had  
first spoken to me, that it was imposible to stay away from him. So I  
gave up. At times, him and Aluve would frustrate me again with cryptic  
comments, but I chose to ignore them, there was no point whatsoever  
dwelling on it.

Slowly the days dragged by and eventually I found Friday upon me. Alice had grown more excited by the day and was now unbearable.

"Is she always like this?" I asked Rosalie as we headed into the cafeteria. I had never thought that Rosalie had been particularly keen on me. Mostly I think she was a little jealous of how protective Emmett was over me. But within this week since me and Alice had become friends, we had bonded a lot more.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Have you not noticed?" She asked incredulously. "I've never seen her any different," We both laughed while Alice stormed off, pretending to be annoyed with me. Throughout the week our plans had been finalized. The boys would also go shopping, but Alice had insisted that they were not allowed to actually be in the same shops as us at any point. Then we would return home together and have a movie marathon. Each of us choosing our favorite movie to watch. And, judging by the size of our group, we would most likely be up all night.

Just as we rounded the corner, Tanya walked straight up to us, flanked by Lauren and Jessica. Her eyes were blazing and dead set on me. She came to a stop before me appraising Alice and Rosalie who had taken defensive positions either side of me.

"Got some new friends I see," She said, sneering. I just moved to walk around her, but she blocked my path.

"Keep away from my man," She continued, menace leaking into her voice as she glared at me.

"Actually, as I understand it, he's no longer _your _man," Alice piped up from behind me. Tanya whipped her head around to face Alice, her glare intensifying.

"Shut up," She replied, nostrils flaring.

Alice simply danced passed her, laughing. Me and Rosalie followed, smirking at Tanya as we went.

"Don't think this is the end, Swan," Tanya called towards me.

"I don't intend it to be, Denali," I called back over my shoulder.

We all entered the cafeteria together, laughing at how ignorant Tanya was. She thought that she could get away with all that, without me carrying out any revenge? Yes, I may have been spineless while I was her friend, but surely she had seen all the changes in me recently? I shook my head, some people could be so stupid sometimes.

"What's so funny?" Edward asked as we all sat down. Recently I had grown even closer to him, we had become good friends. But I knew that soon we would have to talk about the things that had happened in the past, what had been said and done. But, I was happy to try and put that day off for as long as was possible.

"Tanya," We all managed to gasp out in unison, while still laughing. His face hardened as soon as we had said her name.

"What. Did. She. Say?" He spat out, looking furious. We all sobered up, seeing his expression.

"Just forget about it Edward, it's not important," I replied, blowing it off. "Besides, there's better things to think about,"

"Like what?" He asked, having calmed down slightly, but not completely.

"Tomorrow," Alice replied, squealing for what must have been the umpteenth time this week.

Edward rolled his eyes at her. "It's _really _not as exciting as you think Alice, to any _normal _person anyways,"

"Good thing I'm not what you might call _normal_ then, isn't it?" She retorted. "Besides, you never know what might happen..," She trailed off, looking at Edward knowingly.

I'm going to have to find out their secret before I go crazy.

**A/N - So, will the sleepover be the making or breaking of EXB? You shall find out sometime soon.....**

**Review, please?**

**Hannah**

**x**


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